Hello all!

Now that the end of the school semester is approaching, possibly leaving you more time to hang out with your friends, and that National Convention is right around the corner, where you will be re-uniting with, and making, new friends, I wanted to do a little “Friendship-check”.

My question is, are your friendships more like a sponge or iron? Before you answer that question, let me explain what I mean by “sponge” and “iron”. hehe

Sponge

What does a sponge do? (Yes, it cleans, but that’s not what I’m getting at.) It soaks up. It takes in. Also, as far as characteristics, a sponge is soft and comfortable.

In your friendships, is your focus on what you can soak up or get out of the relationship? God often shows me that in many of my friendships, I’m in it for what I can get out of it. I’m in it for my own pleasure, amusement, satisfaction and needs, instead of letting my needs and satisfactions be met and found in God, through a relationship with Jesus Christ.  Another question: in your friendships, are you prone to mainly tell your friends what they want to hear, and whats comfortable for them (and yourself)? I know for me, because I have a tendency to be a “people pleaser”, sometimes I just want to tell my friends things that make them feel good and things that don’t disagree with or question their perspective, sayings or doings. But is that really being a friend?

Okay, so that’s a “sponge” friendship.

Iron 

What does iron do? (More specifically, an iron tool/weapon?) It sharpens, builds, pierces, etc. Is this reminding  you of a certain Bible verse? Proverbs 27:17 says,

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

What would it look like for you to be like “iron” to your friend? It may look like advising them, challenging them to grow in certain areas, building them up in their relationship with God, sharing a thought with them that they need to hear, though they may not want to, encouraging them to persevere in their walk with God, and so on. Even praying for/with them or pointing them to God’s Word! Hebrews 4:12 says,

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

What’s even more important than your words to your friends is God’s Word. It is powerful!

As far as sometimes having to tell your friends something they may not want to hear, Proverbs 27:6 says, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. ”

If your shared thought or challenge to your friend is from a heart that truly cares for them and wants to see them grow, your “wounds” can be trusted! Because it is for their own good.

(Disclaimer: Not saying that giving your friends compliments or encouraging them is wrong. Just be mindful if that is solely what your friendship is comprised of.)

Sponge or Iron?

All in all, being a “sponge” or “iron” in your friendships can make a big difference in how you relate to your friends. (Especially friends of the opposite sex! But that’s a whole ‘nother blog post. ;-D ) In our relationships, instead of asking, “What can I get out of this relationship and how can this person serve my needs?”, what would it be like for us to ask ourselves, “How can I serve this person? How can I build this person up in his/her relationship with Christ?”

Ultimately, as Christians, our attitudes in our relationships are meant to imitate  Jesus’ attitude. In John 15:12-13, Jesus says, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” And how has Jesus loved us? Sacrificially! That’s why it goes on to say, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

If we’re just in a friendship/relationship for ourselves (like a sponge), we are not imitating Christ. Imitating Christ is laying our lives down and putting others’ interests ahead of our own, helping them to grow in Christ-likeness. And, oftentimes, “sharpening” your friends (like an iron) is in their best interest, in the long run!

I have found that relating to my friends as “iron sharpens iron” instead of “using them” like a sponge makes for very rich, deep and God-glorifying friendships, instead of insincere, superficial and self-centered ones.

My prayer is that, in our friendships, we would be selfless. I also pray that we would speak the truth to each other in love, as in Ephesians 4:15-16. And finally, that the word of Christ would dwell in us richly, as in Colossians 3:16, as we sharpen one another, as iron sharpens iron.

May we be more intentional to pursue Christ-likeness and to help others do the same in our friendships!

To those who are going, have a great time at NC!

Program Director: TBA | Guest Director: TBA

Dates: August 27 – September 1, 2012

Questions: clay.gibson@teenpact.com

Student Price: $249 through Jun 28 then $269

Parent Price: $149 through Jun 28 then $169

Program Director: TBA | Guest Director: TBA

Dates: October 22-27, 2012

Questions: clay.gibson@teenpact.com

Student Price: $249 through Aug 23 then $269

Parent Price: $149 through Aug 23 then $169

Two Thousand and Eleven

Did you experience any changes in 2011? Maybe a change in your friendships, your church,  your family, your health, your relationship status, your education,  your job, and so on. Perhaps you lost a loved one or underwent a personal change in your heart. Some of those changes may have been a blessing.  Still, some may have felt painful or challenging. In the midst of those various changes and struggles, what was God to you?

As I look back over the past year, contemplating the changes that have happened in my life,  what would my answer be? God was faithful. Now, of course, He was many other things to me, such as gracious, comforting, convicting, kind, etc.,  but His faithfulness is what has struck me the most this past year and is what I believe we all have experienced, even if you haven’t realized it.  How can I say this for sure? Because God says it in His word many times. For example, Psalm 89:24 says:

“My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him…”

and Psalm 100:5 says:

“For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”

Now that we’ve established that God is faithful,  lets look at some definitions of “faithful”  (from Dictionary.com hehe):

1. true to one’s word, promises, vows, etc.
2. steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; constant
3. reliable, trusted, or believed

The two words I want to focus on are “constant” and “reliable”.  In the changes you experienced over the past year, did God ever change? Did God ever fail you when it seemed like all else had?  The answer should be a resounding “No!”

Two Thousand and Twelve… and Beyond!

So hopefully you can begin to recount God’s faithfulness to you in 2011 (if you haven’t already). But what about this year? 2012 has just begun, and if you’re like me, you may be uncertain about what lies ahead. Maybe you have a difficult semester of school ahead, or maybe you’re worried about some decisions you’ll have to make in the near future, or perhaps you’re going through a dry season, or maybe you’re aware of your weaknesses and your need for God’s grace and strength for where He has you right now or in the future.

Whatever situation you may be in, is it possible that God could be just as faithful, reliable and constant to you this year as He was in the past? According to Hebrews 13:8:

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Do you know what this means!? This means that the same God that got you through 2011, will get you through 2012, and the next year and the next year and the next year. This means that though changes in your life are inevitable and will bring with them highs and lows and ups and downs, God is constant! He never changes.  He stays the same. Like an Evergreen tree. I find this to be SUCH a comfort because even though I’m unsure about what 2012 holds, I know that I can be confident in God’s faithfulness, which I’ve already experienced through Jesus Christ. So take heart and be encouraged! God promises to never leave you nor forsake you. For even when “we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” (2 Tim. 2:13)

As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:7-9, my prayer is that you all would not be

“lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

And lastly, I pray that we would all rejoice and rest in the security of God’s unchanging character.

In the words of David:

“Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!…Give thanks to the Lord…Sing to him a new song…For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.”

Happy New Year, everyone!!!

Georgia Pictures

The week was packed out!  We had nearly 70 students, so I decided to have 6 teams; this meant that every rotation had to have 6 activities.  Thus we had more teambuilding activities than ever before!  We used almost every obstacle we have ever used in the past and had the opportunity to create some new ones.   At shooting sports, we introduced everyone to a myriad of weaponry (maybe too much) from AK-47’s, to hatchets, to shotguns, to AR-15’s, to silenced 9mm handguns; we had it all!

Having such a packed out week meant that everything took longer and was more exhausting.  At the end of the day, everyone was worn thin and dog-tired. While this at first may sound like a bad thing, I think that this was what set the event apart from the others.  What I believe this event did was force people past where they thought that they could go, and to a point where they were forced to rely on God.  I know that this was true of me.  Because this week was so long and hard,  the teams joined together and were required to rely on each other and on God more than ever.

Download the Forming Phase Talk (Romans 12:1-2)
 
 
Download the Storming Phase Talk (Romans 12:3-5)
 
 
Download the Norming Phase Talk (Romans 12:6-15)
 
 
Download the Performing Phase Talk (Romans 12:16-21)

As a student, if you hadn’t already noticed, at the beginning of the Survival week, you were assigned to a team. But you didn’t perform as a team right from the get go, did you? As Daniel explained in his talk, your team probably started out as a group (democratic decisions, uncertain outcome, cautious communication, etc). But throughout the week you were given various challenges that would most efficiently be completed if you worked as a TEAM! (common purpose, leadership structure, functional roles, etc.) Now, over the course of the week, how did you go from a group to a team? What were the main contributing factors? Here are a few of the ones Daniel talked about, just to jog your memory.

• Identifying your role as a guy or girl and walking it out
• Soliciting ideas
• Identifying your spiritual gifts and using them
• Encouraging your teammates

Your “Team” Back Home

After such an AMAZING week at Survival, what do you have to do? You have to say your goodbyes and head back…HOME. *sniffle sniffle* Back to “reality”. The same old, same old, where various responsibilities, school assignments, due dates, family issues, peer drama and the mundaneness of life are right at the front door, waiting to greet you! (I know it’s not always that bad; just trying to make a point.)

So was Survival just a week-long experience where you met cool people, heard cool messages, did cool stuff and then left all that behind to get back to “real life”? Does what you learned at Survival ( such as how to change from a group to a team) have to be cut off from the rest of your life, or can application be made back home?

More specifically, are there any “teams” God has you on right now? Think about it. It could be your family, your church, your school, your workplace, or even a literal team(sports/competitive). Even if the “team” you’re on right now seems boring, random, stressful, etc.,  God has placed you there for a reason! And that’s exciting!  Ephesians 2:10 says:

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

God has work for you to do, where ever you are.

Participating on Your “Team”

How could you apply any of the factors I mentioned in the beginning to where God has you now? What people do you come in contact with everyday whom you can encourage? If you’re a girl, what guys are in your life whom you can support & encourage to lead? If you’re a guy, how can you practice loving leadership and taking initiative instead of being passive? For both guys and girls, what gifts has God given you to use right where you are? 1 Peter 4:10-11 says:

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides…”

So do you think God would want you to take the team building skills you’ve learned at Survival back home? I think so! And get this, God knows you can’t just set out to do so on your own strength. That’s why, in Christ, He’s given you the Holy Spirit to empower you to put what you’ve learned into action!

Now lets not forget the whole point of why we’re called to use the gifts and resources God has  given us  on our “teams”. What does the last part of verse 11 in 1 Peter 4 say?

“ so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

May this be your motivation in applying what you’ve learned at Survival, back home!

Tuesday we really struggled at first with getting things done. It seemed like everyone wanted to be a leader and we argued a lot. Once we got to the rope challenge though we finally began to realize that we had to work together, be positive and encouraging. It was also there that Joseph, a guy who had been fairly quiet, gave some of his ideas. The ideas worked really well and from there we kind of knew that he was the person we should have for team captain. That afternoon we shot the guns. I’d have to say that the rifle was my favorite to shoot but I really liked the handgun and blow darts too. Well, that night we elected our captain and Joseph got the job (he was so the right person for the job) and from there it was pretty smooth sailing.

Wednesday the teams headed out into the woods for obstacle courses. We started off by getting lost and going in circles, twice.  On camouflage I got lost (fail) and then ran around trying to distract the spotters. Apparently, it worked pretty well. The bridge was pretty easy if not a bit scary. We had by this point pretty much gotten orienteering down flat and it took us no time at all. We had fun with the fielded stripping. It was complicated by the fact the we hadn’t learned how to do the AR-15. Clay was nice enough to stop the time and show us and then we did it in 6 minutes. The ball thing was easy and it only took us a few seconds. The spider web was super fun and we were the only team to get everyone through! Then we got free time and we played Ultimate.

Thursday we learned a lot of survival skills then in the afternoon we got to do the obstacle course. Our team started with the beam going over it more times than any other team (205). Then we went to the ball catch. This really put a strain on the team but we persevered and ended up with 2nd place in that. That one came as a shock. We had problems with the wall due to weight distribution and who should go up when but once that was figured out we got 10 people up in 3 minutes. The giants finger was fun and we got the tire up around 20 times. Logistics gave us some deep lessons to apply to our lives and was very straining physically (not! ). Still, Logistics was fun and will be a hilarious memory for me.

Friday we survived. I loved making the fishing pole and Andy made a sick Apache throwing star. Joe lit our fire in about 2 seconds. We spent a crazy amount of time on our shelter but it paid off really well. We had about 2 feet of pine straw on it but it was completely waterproof (baring 2 drops on Erin’s foot). The trap didn’t really work but it was pretty close. We played something like 20 on 20 Ultimate that afternoon. That was pretty fun and we watched the staffers climb the wall. They were awesome. That night was one of the best of my life. We remembered Jimmy as we worshiped and then had a great talk about witnessing.

Now the thing I have as of yet only briefly mentioned, the sessions and worship. These truly blessed me. Daniel brought us through Romans 12 during the week and I was fascinated by the points he made. The idea of there being 4 stages of team building was fairly new to me and I enjoyed getting to learn about them and then apply the things he taught us. I was blown away by how much truth there was to what he was saying. Also, even though TeenPact talks about it a lot, I’d never understood the concept of servant leadership. Through the sessions and team-building activities I learned so much about it and I can see now just how important it is. The talk he gave on spiritual gifts was probably my favorite. It was interesting to learn about and I took many pages of notes. I’ve always had trouble finding out my spiritual gift. I’d tried quizzes and surveys but Daniel’s session made it clear to me which gift I have. In our team girl small group we went around trying to classify everyone who wasn’t sure and that was a lot of fun. Then we talked about how we could apply our gifts to our team the next day.

The girls only sessions were also exciting. Ruth is a gifted teacher and as she talked God worked through her showing me what it means to be a girl and what my role is on a team. We also discussed pride. I found this particularly insightful. It made me see that when we are prideful we are not only thinking of ourselves as being better than others we are trying right take the glory that is rightfully God’s for ourselves. It showed me how dangerous pride really is too. The team small group talks were a ton of fun and I loved getting to talk over the days events with the girls.

In personal devos I read through, studied and memorized Col 1:9-11 and I learned a lot from that passage but the thing that particularly encouraged me was the part where Paul says that if we live according to God’s will that he will give us great endurance, patience and joy. I was also fascinated by the times where we drew spiritual analogies from our experiences during the daily debrief time. Once an analogy was made from counting rice (I really liked that one) I decided that literally anything can be made into an analogy to help us in our spiritual lives.

I also learned a lot during the activities. I saw how great an effect a single unkind word or opinion had. It literally took an instant for everyone to be less cheerful, helping and encouraging and until someone apologized or we decided to forget it things would stay that way. On the other side words of encouragement and compliments went so far towards making us a close knit team. We were happier, way more enthusiastic and really gave it our best. It’s amazing that something so small and simple affected us all so greatly. I’ve already been able to apply this idea in some of my school classes!

All of the staffers and parents were amazing. They were funny, always cheerful (even when we got frustrated) and they were so encouraging. They were great examples to us.

Sorry, I’ve been kind of long winded. To wrap things up, my first experience at Survival was amazing. It was funny, moving, terrifying, exhausting and challenging sometimes all at once. It was on of the best weeks of my life and it was so cool watching my group grow into an amazing team that really trusted each other. This alumni event has taught me so many lessons that I can bring into my everyday life. It challenged me, forcing me to grow. I will definitely be returning next year. Now I just have to pick a location…

~~Ashley Eaton~~